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The San Francisco 49ers made a couple of much-needed free agent signings on their offensive line when they added left tackle Trent Williams and center Alex Mack. It looked as though the 49ers might tap out their limited cap space with the two deals, but the immediate cap hits on both are both surprisingly low.
To re-sign Williams and add Mack, the 49ers issued two contracts worth up to $152,910,000. Their salary cap hits for 2021 will come in at just $11,226,250. That number comes in $3 million below what Williams’ 2022 cap hit will be.
Structuring contracts for players like Williams and Mack in a way that would allow the 49ers to continue making additions was going to be important. The Williams deal alone is so gargantuan that it could’ve derailed San Francisco’s entire free agency and left them without any room to fill out the rest of the roster.
While the Williams deal in particular gets more expensive as it ages, having small cap hits in 2021 was an important aspect of the contracts the 49ers were handing out. With the NFL’s salary cap dipping to $182.5 million, they were going to be up against it no matter how they went about the free agent period. Getting Williams and Mack for cheap this year let the 49ers bolster their offensive line while maintaining flexibility to revamp their defense and add depth to a roster they hope can be Super Bowl-ready by September.